Thread: Pen warranty

I mainly sell at markets ,nobody ever asks for a warranty ,but I give them my home phone and email address and suggest they contact me re any problems they may encounter ,transmissions fail sometimes , I also explain that in time the finish may dull, or the platings may wear ,not a lot I can do about that, you just need to be fair I think : cheers John

What warranty do we get from the kit suppliers?

i made up a little card with my contact details and "care" instructions for the pens i sell. they basically say
1, to clean/polish the pen use a soft dry cloth eg microfibre
2, coating/plaiting on pen fittings will wear over time
3, do not leave pen in extreme heat eg vehicle parked in the sun, timber pens will crack

most customers seem very understanding with my care instructions and follow them

from expirance some customers will make the plating wear faster than others im not to sure what the reason is for this, maybe some people have something on their hands or in their skin that has this effect.

i have found that if i sell the pens for a higher price people seem to take better care of them. you can normally tell if a pen has been abused and in that case i dont replace them.

good luck with it all

stevo

Hey Paul

This what I give to every customer that I sell to but in a printed form http://wickedturnings.yolasite.com/pen-care.php hope this helps

ian

Originally Posted by Avery

What warranty do we get from the kit suppliers?

None as far as I know but it all comes down to the honesty and integrity of the supplier. I had cause to return a pen to Timberbits because the black enamel had peeled off the pen.
I mentioned the problem to David and he immediately told me to return it so he could take it up with his supplier and he immediately sent me a replacement pen before he even received the pen I was going to return to him.
This was not a top of the line pen and I was not expecting to have the pen replaced but thought I would mention it to Timberbits so they were aware of the problem. There was no excuses, the pen was replaced without question. I think this is what its all about, being reasonable by both parties. In this instance Timberbits went far beyond what I was expecting. but as a customer, I think we have to be reasonable too. I am sure some of us must be suppliers worst nightmare.

At 043 turning we offer a free replacement against plating failure for any of the Rhodium plated kits, this is not a manufactures warranty, it is something we believe is required when spending the money on this quality of kit.

If there is a problem with the manufacture of the kit. we offer free replacements ( some time we ask for the old parts back to pass onto the supplier, even though they offer no refunds) some kits are easier to damage then others, whilst some platings are greater waring than others

As to finishes CA , Estapol, WOP, or EEE will have different signs of ware depending on how they have been treated and which one you have used, therefore it's difficult to provide a blanket warranty, the best thing to do is explain what a defect is and what Fare, ware and tear is..

damage to completed kits depends on the respect it receives from the client. most completed pens under $40 will be used daily and will show signs of plating ware after a few months.. with the more expensive kits there should be no signs of ware even after 6 months of use. the more you charge the greater the responsibility to provide customer service. Imagine paying $250 or higher for a kit and the finish becomes chipped, are you expected to fix it, and how many times do you do this "Under warrent"..?

when we sell completed pens they are to people who we hope would respect the pen and the work, so I have know problems working through the issue but at the end of the day most of this is dependent on the way the pen is handled and also treated when not in use...

Salty

Originally Posted by munruben

None as far as I know but it all comes down to the honesty and integrity of the supplier. I had cause to return a pen to Timberbits because the black enamel had peeled off the pen.
I mentioned the problem to David and he immediately told me to return it so he could take it up with his supplier and he immediately sent me a replacement pen before he even received the pen I was going to return to him.
This was not a top of the line pen and I was not expecting to have the pen replaced but thought I would mention it to Timberbits so they were aware of the problem. There was no excuses, the pen was replaced without question. I think this is what its all about, being reasonable by both parties. In this instance Timberbits went far beyond what I was expecting. but as a customer, I think we have to be reasonable too. I am sure some of us must be suppliers worst nightmare.

Agreed on the service from Timberbits. I had a problem with a Polaris and emailed David about it. He rang me the next morning to sort out the problem and offered a replacement if his solution didnt work. It worked so I was very happy with his service. Great products and great service!

I have had occasion to do a few refunds ( Pen Kits not made pens) several of them have even been problems that have come from not reading instructions but I feel that by looking after my customers they appreciate it and of course come back. Obviously you have to judge each case on its merit.

So far all have been happy

Cheers
Ian

Whilst most of us do our best to honor our product even to replacing the whole thing if required ,that goes for the penturners and the suppliers , What gets my goat is you can not buy separate bits and pieces for replacements ,eg I bought some Titanium and rhodium Lotus kits from a US supplier on runout special. Sold one to a customer at a fair price , and a few months later the rhodium nib end was badly pitted ,sent a photo off to the retailer who was unable to replace the kit(no stock) but they refunded the price in full ,so far so good, I still had to repair the pen so took it off another kit to satisfy the customer , This leaves me with a high end ,unusable kit ,for want of a nib end replacement. I took the matter up with a Dayacom rep, who sent off pictures and I was assured of a replacement ,hasn't happened as yet and its quite some time , now I am not out of pocket ,but I should be able to buy parts as needed,and not have to lose a whole kit for want of one part so whilst the frontline people in this business are mostly first class ,I think the manufacturers need to lift their game a bit Ah well such is life it seems cheers ~ John

Hey There,

I have had two (2) occasioins where the client thought that they had warranty claims, the first one the pen was a pen that had clearly been dropped, ( had a big ding in the nib section,) I asked the client about this and he said that 'no it was like that out of the Velvet sleeve' it was a promo gift from my client to his customer, I replaced the pen and said that he should be careful who he gives them to. he buys about 15 - 20 pens a month, I thought that it was a reasonable PR exercise to replace the pen. The second occasion was a client who changed a refill and screwed the transmission off inside a Sierra and them tried to 'Fix it' themselves, It took me about 15 minutes to sort it, but I got it fixed, The client was happy and gave me a six Pack and asked me to show him how to do the refil change about 3 times before he left. I have the instructions on my website, and give all my Pen recipients a card directing them there, for Pen Care and Reffill replacement.

I haven't had a problem with Suppliers, I have a couple of kits in the Shed that have 'Parts Missing' because of my own mistakes

HazzaB

With cheaper pens about a one year warranty, with expensive pens usually a "lifetime " warranty, excluding of course faults caused by misuse--dropped, put in the dryer or washing machine, etc. The ones that have come back have been due to manufacturing causes or misuse!!, Sierra bottom end pushed off- I just put on a new bottom end with CA. One had been dropped but claimed it just was like it--replaced it anyway. Amos

This topic raises some good points. I have never considered warranty before. As I do not sell many I rekon I should offer some sort of protection for the buyer.
If I get this right, 12 months for a Slimline and longer as the price raises?

I will repair/replace a faulty pen but not one that has signs of abuse.
I have seen a pen that I built about 18 months ago that needed the timber (BOW) replacing due to the fact the a hot soldering iron was left laying across the timber ,burnt to the tube below when the pen was only 3 months old.It was rebuilt using Colobolo . That same pen now has marks on the plating ( minor) from the owner who will admit to dropping on the floor on a regular bases, throwning it into a toolbox. The timber has turn to a deep red timber due to the owner leaving on the dashboard of his car for days at time in heat of over 35 degrees.This pen is a daily use pen.

Hell I love my pen that much I always take it a market just to show it off

I agree with what you say john about the parts not being available so i have a container that I keep any part pens or pens I have had to use bits off in and whenever customers have problems I try to help out the best I can. It is surprising how handy it is and help many customers. It can be anything from a centre band to even just a tube.

Cheers Ian